(St. Elmo is the patron saint of sailors.)

Elo´a, the first of seraphs. He name with God is "The Chosen One," but the angels call him Eloa. Eloa and Gabriel were angel friends.

Eloi (St.), that is, St. Louis. The kings of France were called Loys up to the time of Louis XIII. Probably the "delicate oath" of Chaucer's prioress, who was a French scholar "after the scole of Stratford-atte-Bowe," was St. Loy, i.e. St. Louis, and not St. Eloi the patron saint of smiths and artists. St.

Eloi was bishop of Noyon in the reign of Dagobert, and a noted craftsman in gold and silver. (Query, "Seint Eloy" for Seinte Loy?)

El´ops. There was a fish so-called, but Milton uses the word (Paradise Lost, x. 525) for the dumb serpent or serpent which gives no warning of its approach by hissing or otherwise. (Greek, ellops, "mute or dumb.")

Eloquence (The Four Monarchs of): (1) Demonsthenês, the Greek orator (B.C. 385-322); (2) Cicero, the Roman orator (B.C. 106-43); (3) Burke, the English orator (1730-1797); (4) Webster, the American orator (1782-1852).

Eloquent (That old Man), Isoc´ratês, the Greek orator. When he heard that the battle of Chaerone´a was lost, and that Greece was no longer free, he died of grief.

In the United States the term was freely applied to John Quincy Adams, in the latter years of his life.

Eloquent Doctor (The), Peter Aurelolus, archbishop of Aix (fourteenth century).

Elpi´nus, Hope personified. He was "clad in sky-like blue" and the motto of his shield was "I hold by being held." He went attended by Pollic´ita (promise). Fully described in canto ix. (Greek, elpis, "hope.")—Phineas Fletcher, The Purple Island (1633).

Elsa. German maiden, accused of having killed her little brother. At her trial a knight appears, drawn by a swan, champions her and vanquishes her accuser. Elsa weds him (Lohengrin) promising never to ask of his country or family. She breaks the vow; the swan appears and bears him away from her.—Lohengrin Opera, by Richard Wagner.

Elshender the Recluse, called "the Canny Elshie" or the "Wise Wight of Mucklestane Moor." This is "the black dwarf," or Sir Edward Mauley, the hero of the novel.—Sir W. Scott, The Black Dwarf (time Anne).

Elsie, the daughter of Gottlieb, a cottage farmer of Bavaria. Prince Henry of Hoheneck, being struck with leprosy, was told he would never be cured till a maiden chaste and spotless offered to give her life in sacrifice for him. Elsie volunteered to die for the prince, and he accompanied her to Salerno; but either the exercise, the excitement, or some charm, no matter what, had quite cured the prince, and when he entered the cathedral with Elsie, it was to make her Lady Alicia, his bride.—Hartmann von der Aue, Poor Henry (twelfth century); Longfellow, Golden Legend.

therefore.jpgAlcestis, daughter of Pelias and wife of Admetos died instead of her husband, but was brought back by Herculês from the shades below, and restored to her husband.

Elsie (Venner), a girl marked before her birth as one apart from her kind. Her mother, treading upon a rattle-snake near her door, leaves the imprint of the loathsome thing upon the child. She is a "splendid scowling beauty" with glittering black eyes. When angry, they are narrowed and gleam like diamonds, and "charm" after an unhuman fashion. She bit her cousin when a child, and the wound had to be cauterized. She is wild almost to savagery and she falls in love with her tutor savagely for awhile, afterward loves him hopelessly. She dies of a strange decline, and the ugly mark about her throat that obliges her always to wear a necklace has faded out.—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Elsie Venner (1861).

Elsmere (Robert), hero of religious novel of same name, by Mrs. Humphrey Ward.

Elspeth (Auld), the old servant of Dandie Dinmont, the store-farmer of Charlie's Hope.—Sir W. Scott, Guy Mannering (time George II.).

Elspeth (Old) of the Craigburnfoot, the mother of Saunders Muckelbacket (the old fisherman at Musselcrag), and formerly servant to the countess of Glenallan.—Sir W. Scott, The Antiquary (time George III.).

Elvi´no, a wealthy farmer in love with Ami´na the somnambulist. Amina being found in the bedroom of Conte Rodolfo the day before her wedding, induces Elvino to break off the match and promise marriage to Lisa; but as the truth of the matter breaks upon him, and he is convinced of Amina's innocence, he turns over Lisa to Alessio, her paramour, and marries Amina, his first and only love.—Bellini's opera, La Sonnambula (1831).

Elvi´ra, sister of Don Duart, and niece of the governor of Lisbon. She marries Coldio, the coxcomb son of Don Antonio.—C. Cibber, Love Makes a Man.

Elvi´ra, the young wife of Gomez, a rich old banker. She carries on a liaison with Colonel Lorenzo, by the aid of her father-confessor Dominick, but is always checkmated, and it turns out that Lorenzo is her brother.—Dryden, The Spanish Fryar (1680).

Elvi´ra, a noble lady who gives up everything to become the mistress of Pizarro. She tries to soften his rude and cruel nature, and to lead him into more generous ways. Her love being changed to hate, she engages Rollo to slay Pizarro in his tent; but the noble Peruvian spares his enemy, and makes him a friend. Ultimately, Pizarro is slain in fight with Alonzo, and Elvira retires to a convent.—Sheridan, Pizarro (altered from Kotzebue, 1799).

Elvi´ra (Donna), a lady deceived by Don Giovanni, who basely deluded her into an amour with his valet Leporello.—Mozart's opera, Don Giovanni (1787).

Elvi´ra "the puritan," daughter of Lord Walton, betrothed to Arturo (Lord Arthur Talbot), a calvalier. On the day of espousals the young man aids Enrichetta (Henrietta, widow of Charles I.) to escape, and Elvira, thinking he had eloped with a rival, temporarily loses her reason. Cromwell's soldiers arrest Arturo for treason, but he is subsequently pardoned, and marries Elvira.—Bellini's opera, I Puritani (1834).

Elvi´ra, a lady in love with Erna´ni the robber-captain and head of a league against Don Carlos (afterwards Charles V. of Spain). Ernani was just on the point of marrying Elvira, when he was summoned to death by Gomez de Silva, and stabbed himself.—Verdi, Ernani (an opera, 1841).

Elvi´ra, betrothed to Alfonso (son of the Duke d'Arcos). No sooner is the marriage completed than she learns that Alfonso has seduced Fenella, a dumb girl, sister of Masaniello the fisherman. Masaniello, to revenge his wrongs, heads an insurrection, and Alfonso with Elvira run for safety to the fisherman's hut, where they find Fenella, who promises to protect them. Masaniello, being made chief magistrate of Por´tici, is killed by the mob; Fenella throws herself into the crater of Vesuvius; and Alfonso is left to live in peace with Elvira.—Auber, Masaniello (1831).

Elvire (2 syl.), the wife of Don Juan, whom he abandons. She enters a convent, and tries to reclaim her profligate husband, but without success.—Molière, Don Juan (1665).

Ely (Bishop of), introduced by Sir W. Scott in the Talisman (time, Richard I.).

Emath´ian Conqueror (The Great), Alexander the Great. Emathia is Macedonia and Thessaly. Emathion, a son of Titan and Aurora, reigned in Macedonia. Pliny tells us that Alexander, when he besieged Thebes, spared the house in which Pindar the poet was born, out of reverence to his great abilities.

Embla, the woman Eve of Scandinavian mythology. Eve or Embla was made of elm, but Ask or Adam was made of ash.

Em´elie or EMELYE, sister-in-law of Duke Theseus (2 syl.), beloved by both Pal´amon and Ar´cite (2 syl.), but the former had her to wife.

Emeral´der, an Irishman, one of the Emerald Isle.

Emer´ita (St.), who, when her brother abdicated the British crown, accompanied him to Switzerland, and shared with him there a martyr's death.

Emile (2 syl.), the chief character of a philosophical romance on education by Jean Jacques Rousseau (1762). Emile is the author's ideal of a young man perfectly educated, every bias but that of nature having been carefully withheld.

N.B.—Emile is the French form of Emilius.

His body is inured to fatigue, as Rousseau advises in his Emilius.—Continuation of The Arabian Nights, iv. 69.

Emil´ia, wife of Iago, the ancient of Othello in the Venetian army. She is induced by Iago to purloin a certain handkerchief given by Othello to Desdemona. Iago then prevails on Othello to ask his wife to show him the handkerchief, but she cannot find it, and Iago tells the Moor she has given it to Cassio as a love-token. At the death of Desdemona, Emilia (who till then never suspected the real state of the case) reveals the truth of the matter, and Iago rushes on her and kills her.—Shakespeare, Othello (1611).

The virtue of Emilia is such as we often find, worn loosely, but not cast off; easy to commit small crimes, but quickened and alarmed at atrocious villainies.—Dr. Johnson.

Emil´ia, the lady who attended on Queen Hermi´onê in prison.—Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale (1604).

Emilia, the lady-love of Peregrine Pickle, in Smollett's novel called The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751).

Emilia Galotti. Beautiful daughter of Odoardo, an Italian noble. She is affianced to Count Appiani, and beloved by the Prince Guastalla, who causes her lover's death on their wedding-day. To save her from the prince, Odoardo stabs Emilia.—G.E. Lessing, Emilia Galotti.

Emily, the fiancée of Colonel Tamper. Duty called away the colonel to Havana, and on his return he pretended to have lost one eye and one leg in the war, in order to see if Emily would love him still. Emily was greatly shocked, and Mr. Prattle the medical practitioner was sent for. Amongst other gossip, Mr. Prattle told his patient he had seen the colonel who looked remarkably well, and most certainly was maimed neither in his legs nor in his eyes. Emily now saw through the trick, and resolved to turn the tables on the colonel. For this end she induced Mdlle. Florival to appear en militaire, under the assumed name of Captain Johnson, and to make desperate love to her. When the colonel had been thoroughly roasted and was about to quit the house forever, his friend Major Belford entered and recognized Mdlle. as his fiancée; the trick was discovered, and all ended happily.—G. Colman, sen., The Deuce is in Him (1762).

Emir or Ameer, a title given to lieutenants of provinces and other officers of the sultan, and occasionally assumed by the sultan himself. The sultan is not unfrequently call "The Great Ameer," and the Ottoman empire is sometimes spoken of as "the country of the Great Ameer." What Matthew Paris and other monks call "ammirals" is the same word. Milton speaks of the "mast of some tall ammiral" (Paradise Lost, i. 294).

The difference between xariff or sariff and amir is this: the former is given to the blood successors of Mahomet, and the latter to those who maintain his religious faith.—Selden, Titles of Honor, vi. 73-4 (1672).

Em'ly (Little), daughter of Tom, the brother-in-law of Dan'el Peggotty, a Yarmouth fisherman, by whom the orphan child was brought up. While engaged to Ham Peggotty (Dan'el's nephew) little Em'ly runs away with Steerforth, a handsome but unprincipled gentleman. Being subsequently reclaimed, she emigrates to Australia with Dan'el Peggotty and old Mrs. Gummidge.—C. Dickens, David Copperfield (1849).

Emma "the Saxon" or Emma Plantagenet, the beautiful, gentle, and loving wife of David, king of North Wales (twelfth century).—Southey, Madoc (1805).

Emmons (David), slow, gentle fellow who never "comes to the point" in his courtship, but visits the "girl" for forty years, and gasps out in dying, "I allers—meant to—have—asked—you to marry me."—Mary E. Wilkins, Two Old Lovers (1887).

Emped´ocles, one of Pythagoras's scholars, who threw himself secretly into the crater at Etna, that people might suppose the gods had carried him to heaven; but alas! one of his iron pattens was cast out with the lava, and recognized.

Emperor of Believers (The), Omar I., father-in-law of Mahomet (581-644).

Emperor of the Mountains, (The) Peter the Calabrian, a famous robber-chief (1812).

Emperor for My People. Hadrian used to say, "I am emperor not for myself but for my people" (76, 117-138).

Empson (Master), flageolot player to Charles II.—Sir W. Scott, Peveril of the Peak (1823).

Enan´the (3 syl.), daughter of Seleucus, and mistress of Prince Deme´trius (son of King Antig´onus) She appears under the name of Celia.—Beaumont and Eletcher, The Humorous Lieutenant (1647).

Encel´ados (Latin, Enceladus), the most powerful of all the giants who conspired against Jupiter. He was struck with a thunder-bolt, and covered with the heap of earth now called Mount Etna. The smoke of the volcano is the breath of the buried giant; and when he shifts his side it is an earthquake.

En'crates (3 syl.), Temperance personified, the husband of Agnei'a (wifely chastity). When his wife's sister Parthen'ia (maidenly chastity) was wounded in the battle of Mansoul, by False Delight, he and his wife ran to her assistance, and soon routed the foes who were hounding her. Continence (her lover) went also, and poured a balm into her wounds, which healed them. Greek, egkratês, "continent, temperate."

Phineas Fletcher, The Purple Island, xi. (1633).

Endell (Martha), a poor fallen girl, to whom Emily goes when Steerforth deserts her. She emigrates with Dan'el Pegot'ty, and marries a young farmer in Australia.—C. Dickens, David Copperfield (1849).

Endiga, in Charles XII., by J.R. Planche (1826).

Endless, the rascally lawyer in No Song No Supper, by P. Hoare (1754-1834).

Endym'ion, a noted astronomer who, from Mount Latmus, in Caria, discovered the course of the moon. Hence it is fabled that the moon sleeps with Endymion. Strictly speaking, Endymion is the setting sun.

Drayton, Polyolbion, vi. (1612).

To sleep like Endymion, to sleep long and soundly. Endymion requested of Jove permission to sleep as long as felt inclined. Hence the proverb, Endymionis somnum dormire. Jean Ogier de Gombaud wrote in French a romance or prose poem called Endymion (1624), and one of the best paintings of A.L. Girodet is "Endymion." Cowley, referring to Gombaud's romance, says:

John Keats, in 1818, published his Endymion (a poetic romance), and the criticism of the Quarterly Review was falsely said to have caused his death.

Endym´ion. So Wm. Browne calls Sir Walter Raleigh, who was for a time in disgrace with Queen Elizabeth, whom he calls "Cyn´thia."

Enfants de Dieu, the Camisards.

The royal troops outnumbered the Enfants de Dieu, and a not inglorious flight took place.—Ed. Gilliat, Asylum Christi, iii.

Enfield (Mrs.), the keeper of a house of intrigue, or "gentleman's magazine" of frail beauties.—Holcroft, The Deserted Daughter (1785).

Engaddi (Theodorick, hermit of), an enthusiast. He was Aberick of Mortemar, an exiled noble.—Sir W. Scott, The Talisman (time, Richard I.).

Engaddi, one of the towns of Judah, forty miles from Jerusalem, famous for its palm trees.

Engel´brecht, one of the Varangian guards.—Sir W. Scott, Count Robert of Paris (time, Rufus).

En´gelred, 'squire of Sir Reginald Front de Boeuf (follower of Prince John of Anjou, the brother of Richard I.).—Sir W. Scott, Ivanhoe (time, Richard I.).

En´guerraud, brother of the Marquis of Montserrat, a crusader.—Sir W. Scott, The Talisman (time, Richard L).

E´nid, the personification of spotless purity. She was the daughter of Yn´iol, and wife of Geraint. The tale of Geraint and Enid allegorizes the contagion of distrust and jealousy, commencing with Guinevere's infidelity, and spreading downward among the Arthurian knights. In order to save Enid from this taint, Sir Geraint removed from the court to Devon; but overhearing part of a sentence uttered by Enid, he fancied that she was unfaithful, and treated her for a time with great harshness. In an illness, Enid nursed Geraint with such wifely devotion that he felt convinced of his error. A perfect reconciliation took place, and they "crowned a happy life with a fair death".—Tennyson, Idylls of the King ("Geraint and Enid.").

Ennius (The English), Lay´amon, who wrote a translation in Saxon of The Brut of Wace (thirteenth century).

Ennius (The French), Jehan de Meung, who wrote a continuation of Layamon's romance (1260-1320).

therefore.jpg Guillaume de Lorris, author of the Romance of the Rose, is also called "The French Ennius," and with better title (1235-1265).

Ennius (The Spanish), Juan de Mena of Cordova (1412-1456).

Enrique´ (2 syl.), brother-in-law of Chrysalde (2 syl.). He married secretly Chrysalde's sister Angelique, by whom he had a daughter, Agnes, who was left in charge of a peasant while Enrique was absent in America. Having made his fortune in the New World, Enrique returned and found Agnes in love with Horace, the son of his friend Oronte (2 syl.). Their union, after the usual quota of misunderstanding and cross purposes, was accomplished to the delight of all parties.—Molière, L'Ecole des Femmes (1662).

Entel´echy, the kingdom of Queen Quintessence. Pantag´ruel´ and his companions went to this kingdom in search of the "holy bottle."—Rabelais, Pantagruel, v. 19 (1545).

therefore.jpgThis kingdom of "speculative science" gave the hint to Swift for his island of Lapu´ta.

Ephe´sian, a toper, a dissolute sot, a jovial companion. When Page (2 Henry IV. act ii. sc. 2) tells Prince Henry that a company of men were about to sup with Falstaff, in Eastcheap, and calls them "Ephesians," he probably meant soldiers called féthas ("foot-soldiers"), and hence topers. Malone suggests that the word is a pun on pheese ("to chastise or pay one tit for tat"), and means "quarrelsome fellows."

Ephe´sian Poet (The), Hippo´nax, born at Ephesus (sixth century B.C.).

Epic Poetry (The Father of), Homer (about 950 B.C.).

Ep´icene (3 syl.), or The Silent Woman, one of the three great comedies of Ben Jonson (1609).

The other two are Volpone (2 syl., 1605), and The Alchemist (1610).

Epicurus. The aimée de coeur of this philosopher was Leontium. (See LOVERS).

Epicurus of China, Tao-tse, who commenced the search for "the elixir of perpetual youth and health" (B.C. 540).

therefore.jpg Thomas Moore has a prose romance entitled The Epicure'an. Lucretius the Roman poet, in his De Rerum Natura, is an exponent of the Epicurean doctrines.

Epidaurus (That God in), Aescula'pius, son of Apollo, who was worshipped in Epidaurus, a city of Peloponne'sus. Being sent for to Rome during a plague, he assumed the form of a serpent.—Livy, Nat. Hist., xi.; Ovid, Metaph., xv.

Milton, Paradise Lost, ix. 507 (1665).

(Cadmus and his wife Harmonia [Hermoine] left Thebes and migrated into Illyria, where they were changed into serpents because they happened to kill one belonging to Mars.)

Ephial'tes (4 syl.), one of the giants who made war upon the gods. He was deprived of his left eye by Apollo, and of his right eye by Herculês.

Epig'oni, seven youthful warriors, sons of the seven chiefs who laid siege to Thebes. All the seven chiefs (except Adrastos) perished in the siege; but the seven sons, ten years later, took the city and razed it to the ground. The chiefs and sons were: (1) Adrastos, whose son was Aegi'aleus (4 syl.); (2) Polynikês, whose son was Thersan'der; (3) Amphiar'aos (5 syl.), whose son was Alkmaeon (the chief); (4) Ty'deus (2 syl.), whose son was Diomê'des; (5) Kap'aneus (3 syl.), whose son was Sthen'elos; (6) Parthenopae'os, whose son was Promachos; (7) Mekis'theus (3 syl.), whose son was Eury'alos.

Æschylos has a tragedy on The Seven Chiefs against Thebes. There are also two epics, one The Thebaïd of Statius, and The Epigoni sometimes attributed to Homer and sometimes to one of the Cyclic poets of Greece.

Epigon'iad (The), called "the Scotch Iliad," by William Wilkie (1721-1772). This is the tale of the Epig'oni or seven sons of the seven chieftains who laid siege to Thebes. The tale is this: When Oe'dipos abdicated, his two sons agreed to reign alternate years; but at the expiration of the first year, the elder son (Eteoclês) refused to give up the throne. Whereupon the younger brother (Polynikês) interested six Grecian chiefs to espouse his cause, and the allied armies laid siege to Thebes, without success. Subsequently, the seven sons of the old chiefs went against the city to avenge the death of their fathers, who had fallen in the former siege. They succeeded in taking the city, and in placing Thersander on the throne. The names of the seven sons are Thersander, AEgi'aleus, Alkmaeon, Diomedês, Sthen'elos, Pro'machos, and Euryalos.

Epimen'ides (5 syl.) of Crete, sometimes reckoned one of the "seven wise men of Greece" in the place of Periander. He slept for fifty-seven years in a cave, and, on waking, found everything so changed that he could recognize nothing. Epimenidês lived 289 years, and was adored by the Cretans as one of their "Curetês" or priests of Jove. He was contemporary with Solon.

(Goethe has a poem called Des Epimenides Erwachen.—See Heinrich's Epimenides.)

Epimenides's Drug. A nymph who loved Epimenides gave him a draught in a bull's horn, one single drop of which would not only cure any ailment, but would serve for a hearty meal.

Le Nouveau Epimenède is a man who lives in a dream in a kind of "Castle of Spain," where he deems himself a king, and does not wish to be disillusioned. The song is by Jacinthe Leclère, one of the members of the "Societé de Momus," of Paris.

Epinogris (Sir), son of the king of Northumberland. He loved an earl's daughter, but slew the earl in a knightly combat. Next day, a knight challenged him to fight, and the lady was to be the prize of the victor. Sir Epinogris, being overthrown, lost the lady; but when Sir Palomidês heard the tale, he promised to recover her. Accordingly, he challenged the victorious knight, who turned out to be his brother. The point of dispute was then amicably arranged by giving up the lady to Sir Epinogris.—Sir T. Malory, History of Prince Arthur, ii. 169 (1470).

Eppie, one of the servants of the Rev. Josiah Cargill. In the same novel is Eppie Anderson, one of the servants at the Mowbray Arms, Old St. Ronan's, held by Meg Dods.—Sir W. Scott, St. Bonarts Well (time, George III.).

Epps, cook of Saunders Fairford, a lawyer.—Sir W. Scott, Redgauntlet (time, George III.). Equity (Father of), Heneage Finch, earl of Nottingham (1621-1682). In Absalom and Achitophel (by Dryden and Tate) he is called "Amri."

Equivokes.

1. HENRY IV. was told that "he should not die but in Jerusalem," which he supposed meant the Holy Land; but he died in the Jerusalem Chamber, London, which is the chapter-house of Westminster Abbey.

2. POPE SYLVESTER was also told that he should die at Jerusalem, and he died while saying mass in a church so called at Rome.

3. CAMBYSES, son of Cyrus, was told that he should die in Ecbat'ana, which he supposed meant the capital of Media. Being wounded accidentally in Syria, he asked the name of the place; and being told it was Ecbatana, "Here, then, I am destined to end my life."

4. A Messenian seer, being sent to consult the Delphic oracle respecting the issue of the Messenian war, then raging, received for reply:

In order to avert this calamity, all goats were diligently chased from the banks of the Neda. One day, Theoclos observed a fig tree growing on the river-side, and its branches dipped into the stream. The interpretation of the oracle flashed across his mind, for he remembered that goat and fig tree, in the Messenian dialect were the same word.

therefore.jpgThe pun would be clearer to an English reader if "a stork" were substituted for the goat: "When a stork stoops to drink of the Neda;" and the "stalk" of the fig tree dipping into the stream.

5. When the allied Greeks demanded of the Delphic oracle what would be the issue of the battle of Salamis, they received for answer:

but whether the oracle referred to the Greeks or Persians who were to fall by "thousands," was not stated.

6. When CROESUS demanded what would be the issue of the battle against the Persians, headed by Cyrus, the answer was, he "should behold a mighty empire overthrown;" but whether that empire was his own, or that of Cyrus, only the actual issue of the fight could determine.

7. Similarly, when PHILIP of Macedon sent to Delphi to inquire if his Persian expedition would prove successful, he received for reply, "The ready victim crowned for sacrifice stands before the altar." Philip took it for granted that the "ready victim" was the king of Persia, but it was himself.

8. TARQUIN sent to Delphi to learn the fate of his struggle with the Romans for the recovery of his throne, and was told, "Tarquin will never fall till a dog speaks with the voice of a man." The "dog" was Junius Brutus, who was called a dog by way of contempt.

9. When the oracle was asked who would succeed Tarquin, it replied, "He who shall first kiss his mother." Whereupon Junius Brutus fell to the earth, and exclaimed, "Thus, then, I kiss thee, O mother earth!"

10. Jourdain, the wizard, told the duke of Somerset, if he wished to live, to "avoid where castles mounted stand." The duke died in an ale-house called the Castle, in St. Alban's.—Shakespeare, 2 Henry VI. act v. sc. 2.

11. A wizard told King Edward IV. that "after him should reign one the first letter of whose name should be G." The king thought the person meant was his brother George, but the duke of Gloucester was the person pointed at.—Holinshed, Chronicles; Shakespeare, Richard III. act i. sc. I.

Erac'lius (The emperor) condemned a knight to death on the supposition of murder; but the man supposed to be murdered making his appearance, the condemned man was taken back, under the expectation that he would be instantly acquitted. But no, Eraclius ordered all three to be put to death: the knight, because the emperor had ordered it; the man who brought him back, because he had not carried out the emperor's order; and the man supposed to be murdered, because he was virtually the cause of death to the other two.

This tale is told in the Gesta Romanorum, and Chaucer has put it into the mouth of his Sumpnor. It is also told by Seneca, in his De Ira; but he ascribes it to Cornelius Piso, and not to Eraclius.

Éraste (2 syl.), hero of Les Fåcheux by Molière. He is in love with Orphiso (2 syl.), whose tutor is Damis (1661).

Er'celdoun (Thomas of), also called "Thomas the Rhymer," introduced by Sir W. Scott in his novel called Castle Dangerous (time, Henry I.).

It is said that Thomas of Erceldoun is not dead, but that he is sleeping beneath the Eildon Hills, in Scotland. One day, he met with a lady of elfin race beneath the Eildon tree, and she led him to an under-ground region, where he remained for seven years. He then revisited the earth, but bound himself to return when summoned. One day, when he was making merry with his friends, he was told that a hart and hind were parading the street; and he knew it was his summons, so he immediately went to the Eildon tree, and has never since been heard of.—Sir W. Scott, Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border.

[Illustration: symbol] This tale is substantially the same in the German one of Tannhäuser (q.v.).

Ereck, a knight of the Round Table. He marries the beautiful Enite (2 syl.), daughter of a poor knight, and falls into a state of idleness and effeminacy, till Enite rouses him to action. He then goes forth on an expedition of adventures, and after combating with brigands, giants, and dwarfs, returns to the court of King Arthur, where he remains till the death of his father. He then enters on his inheritance, and lives peaceably the rest of his life.—Hartmann von der Aue, Ereck (thirteenth century).

Ereen'ia (3 syl.), a glendoveer' or good spirit, the beloved son of Cas'yapa (3 syl.), father of the immortals. Ereenia took pity on Kail'yal (2 syl.), daughter of Ladur'lad, and carried her to his Bower of Bliss in paradise (canto vii.). Here Kailyal could not stay, because she was still a living daughter of earth. On her return to earth, she was chosen for the bride of Jagannaut, and Ar'valan came to dishonor her; but she set fire to the pagoda, and Ereenia came to her rescue. Ereenia was set upon by the witch Lor'rimite (3 syl.), and carried to the submerged city of Baly, whence he was delivered by Ladurlad. The glendoveer now craved Seeva for vengeance, but the god sent him to Yamen (i.e. Pluto), and Yamen said the measure of iniquity was now full, so Arvalan and his father Kehama were both made inmates of the city of everlasting woe; while Ereenia carried Kailyal, who had quaffed the waters of immortality, to his Bower of Bliss, to dwell with him in everlasting joy.—Southey, Curse of Kehoma (1809).

Eret'rian Bull (The). Menede'mos of Eretria, in Eubae'a, was called "Bull" from the bull-like breadth and gravity of his face. He founded the Eretrian school (fourth century B.C.).

Eric, "Windy-cap," king of Sweden. He could make the wind blow from any quarter by simply turning his cap. Hence arose the expression, "a capful of wind."

Eric Gray. A young man whose religious principles will not let him marry the girl he loves because she has not "joined the church." His old love tells the story after his funeral.